Measuring biodiversity and extinction

A Museum scientist sampling insects in a remote tropical forest.

Museum scientists are working all over the world, often in remote and inhospitable areas, to try to understand how many plants and animals are becoming extinct or endangered. As well as mapping new and unknown species, they are studying how populations and habitats are changing.

With millions of species, it’s an enormous task. But studying a selection of species from around the world can help reveal what is happening on a larger scale.